Cormorants, Whales and " A Gift From the Sea"

The cormorants glide effortlessly across the water and land smoothly in the water, no feet flapping and hitting the surface like a swan or goose. No drag, it’s as if they are part otter. I can see both animals in my mind as they touch down. This morning one landed right in front of the boat as we motored along the waterway. I saw him dive, not 6 feet in front of us. Not knowing much about this creature I was alarmed that we might run him over. I was overreacting, in part, because I had been reading about a young whale who was run over by a research vessel in a book called “The Year of The Whale” by Victor B. Scheffer.
The Cormorant dives quite deep and stays under water for quite a while as it dines. He surfaced to the east of us quite safely.

“The Year of The Whale” was written in 1969 and was the author was the winner of the Burroughs Medal for the year’s best book in the field of natural history. It is a delightful story about a year in the life of a baby sperm whale.

On this trip I have also been thinking a lot about “A Gift From The Sea” written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. She writes about the patience we can learn from the sea and many other insights about life. You can read more about her, along with some wonderful quotes of inspiration from her book at: http://www.dailycelebrations.com/062203.htm I have always felt an affinity to her writing. Wave Walker is, in many ways, inspired by her writings. Thank you, Anne, for sharing your life and teaching me that our observations and musings can help others as they walk along the waves.